A Tangle of Strings
by TurnUps
Summary: Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons Hogwarts AU. The Strings of Fate have tangled together and brought a group of friends, all with their own difficult problems together in the room of requirement. Whilst struggling against their family and a threat to Hogwarts, they've got to prepare for their OWLs and NEWTs. Jack/Merida, maybe Elsa/Toothiana
1. Chapter 1 : Asking for Trouble

Chapter One : Asking for Trouble

Tears pricked at the corners of Rapunzel's eyes, sticking to her lashes and obscuring her vision. Nonetheless, she tugged and tugged at the door handle, her magnitude of blonde her hair stuck to the sweat on her palms and her forehead, so that every time she pulled, her scalp twinged painfully.

She knew it was of no use. Mother Gothel had used both a key and magic to lock the door, and her strongest spells were charms. Rapunzel didn't stand a chance. _She knew that, but..._

 _She had to try._

Because, despite what her mother said, she _had_ to go to back to Hogwarts. For eleven years she had been hidden away, but McGonagall had found her, despite Gothel's best wishes. She had sent owl after owl, and even the gatekeeper before Gothel had relented.

Nothing had made Rapunzel happier than being sent to the wondrous school - of exploring the outside world - of having _friends._ It was like a dream come true all year. She could do what she pleased and be who she wanted - and nobody even knew about her magic hair! (Though, at a _magic_ school, she hadn't thought it _that_ strange. She had only ever told one person, who had confirmed her thoughts to be wrong. Magic hair was still weird in the wizarding world.)

At the end of the year, when she was being sent home (though, she had really started to think of Hogwarts as her home, and her dorm mates as her sisters), she was terrified that Gothel wouldn't allow her to go back. To demand that she stayed at home in case anyone - _anyone_ discovered her secret. But her mother barely put up a fuss. She kept mentioning the matter of Rapunzel dropping her studies, but she allowed Rapunzel to hop back on the train every year after that.

And when Rapunzel's OWL results came - five Exceeds Expectations and four Outstandings - Mother Gothel had been over the moon. They had had hazlenut soup - Rapunzel's favourite - every night for the whole summer. She was brought every thing that she even remotely liked in Diagon Alley and, in short, treated like a literal superstar. Her mother was so _proud_.

Today, with two weeks left of summer, she had mentioned to Mother Gothel how hard she was going to work in her final year to achieve as many NEWTs as possible, her mother had exploded. Suddenly, Rapunzel was never leaving the house again - _ever_ \- so help her she would keep her here no matter _what._

It was ridiculous, unfair and uncalled for. Rapunzel had, regretably, in that instant snapped. The secret that she had discovered in her sixth year - Mother Gothel was not her real mother - burst out of her.

Mother Gothel's face had blazed bright red. Then, in less than a second, she had turned deathly pale and ice cold. She seemed to grow twice in size.

That was when she had yanked Rapunzel, by her hair all the way up the spiral staircase and flung her bodily into her room. She had the door locked before three quarters of Rapunzel's hair, trailing behind her like a rejected party streamer, had gotten through.

Rapunzel, straining against her hair, had ran to the only window just in time to see ice freeze it over, distorting the beautiful view of the Welsh countryside outside her window. Not that she could reach it, with half her hair sealed tight in the door.

She had thrown money jars against the door and screamed and cried and begged. Mother Gothel had not responded. She had crept as close as she could to the window and lit a match against the ice, but it was strong, magical ice and an entire box of matches had only melted a hole the size of her hand.

Of course, she could use magic. But by the time the thought occurred to her, she realized that Mother Gothel had stolen her wand.

Her fingers had started to bleed from pulling at the door knob so hard, the salt of her tears stinging the fresh cuts. _Everything hurt so badly..._

Rapunzel stopped and slumped against the door, her back against it. Blood dripped onto her dress, crimson against the faded purple. A gut wrenching sob came from her throat without permission. There were strands of hair all over her face, like a spider's web.

She felt like she was a fly. Caught in an elaborate web. Only she had flown right into it, willingly.

 _And now she was never going to go back to Hogwarts._

Something hopped onto her shoulder, nudged at her tenderly.

She wiped her hair and her tears back, turning to see a very familiar, green face. The face that had been her only friend ever since she was a child. The face that had been her first friend and was still her best friend. Pascal. The chameleon.

As she looked at him, her heart full of despair, an arrow of hope appeared.

Ignoring her hair, which clung to her face and shoulders like cotton candy, she scrambled to her desk. Her fingers fumbled over the ink pot and quill as she feverishly ripped off the last foot of her History of Magic homework.

Her writing, normally tiny, looped and perfect, was like chickenscratch. Her eyes darted around the room - spare ribbon, the tiny hole, Pascal.

"Climb up to the roof," she murmured to him a moment later, her throat raw and throbbing in sharp pain. "Ask Mother's owl to fly you to Eugene's house. _Please_ Pascal. You're my only hope."

(And, yes, of course Rapunzel got that reference; she had been trapped in this house for eleven years and six summers, she was _fluent_ in movie quotes.)

Pascal dutifully saluted her, then scurried away, the scrap of paper tied to his waist in case he dropped it on the way over.

Rapunzel watched him crawl through the hole and disappear, hope shining in her heart. _It would be okay...everything would be fine...once Eugene got here..._

The adrenaline had started to wear off and suddenly Rapunzel found that her eyes were tired and heavy. She was exhausted and in pain and she wanted to go to bed and forget about her horrible situation.

So, sure that Eugene would come for her, she pushed her hair away from her, curled up by the door (as she was still half stuck in it) and closed her eyes. After all, what do damsels in distress do better than wait for Prince Charming.

Within minutes, she had slipped away into a dim, dark, but comfortable world of dreams.

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Jack stared at the badge his mother cradled in her hands. There had to be some mistake. There _had_ to be. He _couldn't_ be -

\- But she was so proud of him. She was looking at him with tears welling in her eyes, shining like diamonds. Her smile was lighting up the room.

And that was precisely why he couldn't tell his mother.

"I thought you had to be a seventh year to be head boy," his little sister, Mary, piped up. Her eyes usually huge and brown like a puppy's, were narrowed at Jack. She thought he was up to something. He was confused beyond all reason.

"Well maybe Jack's a special case," their mother said, admiring the badge like it was a rare jewel. "I'm so proud of you, Jack. Mary, aren't you proud?"

"Of course," Mary quipped. "I was just wondering how a fifth year with the most-"

Jack, quick as lighting, clamped a hand over his little sister's mouth, laughing loudly to cover the silence. He knew what she was going to say - _the most detentions in Hogwarts history_. But their mother didn't know that. And she would never know that.

"Thank you, both of you!" he said loudly, releasing the struggling Mary and taking the Head Boy's badge. "I'm going to go...put this somewhere safe."

"Oh, let me take a picture of you in your robes before you go this time," his mother called after him as he disappeared into his room. He was thankful that the house was a small bungalow, so that he could get there quickly.

"Maybe," he replied, as teasingly as ever, shutting his bedroom door. Feeling awful, he also slid the lock slowly shut. Usually, he had no secrets from his mother. There were things he didn't tell her, yes, but no _secrets_. (If she came up and asked him "is it really true that you set a domino rally of dung bombs off from the first to the fifth floor?" he would say "yes." and try to act ashamed of himself.) This, however, _this_ he couldn't disappoint her with.

Without further ado, he snatched his Hogwarts letter up from the bedside table and desperately re-read it. Yes, it confirmed that he was head boy and had an obligatory, generic statement explaining why. Jack could have laughed - "outstanding performance and effort" - that was that cocky, stuck-up Hans guy - not him. That was anyone but him. _How could he be head boy? He was only in his fifth year!_

It had to be a joke.

And yet, it was definitely McGonagall's owl that swept briskly through the window that morning. And it was definitely her signature.

But it must be a joke.

Either someone was extremely good at pranks, or McGonagall actually had a sense of humour. The former was more likely.

Just in case, he decided he wouldn't wear the bloody badge until he had confirmed with McGonagall that it was his. He couldn't give anyone the pleasure of pranking him.

And if it _was_ his? What would he do then? Reform his ways? Not a chance.

…Maybe he could give it to someone else?

"Ja-ack?" his little sister's wheedling voice came through the door, interupting his thoughts. "You _promised_ to take me to Diagon Alley today, remember?"

"Yeah, I know," Jack replied, taking a deep breath before opening the door and giving her his huge trademark grin. "Grab the floo-powder then."

Their mum, upon finding floo-powder in Diagon Alley during Jack's first year, had always insisted on buying some. It meant that they didn't have to beg their neighbours for lifts to odd places or scrounge around for change to ride the bus.

It also meant that Mary had been sneaking in and out of Hogwarts ever since she could use the stuff - but Mrs Frost didn't know that. She hadn't asked.

Anyway, Jack had been determined to give his little sister the best head-start at the school that he could. He showed her the secret passageways, the tapestries to avoid, introduced her to the paintings that would help her with her homework. All of the little tricks and secrets that he had painstakingly found himself. She would be safe.

Their mum instisted that they travel together, even though there was barely enough room in the fireplace for Jack, let alone Mary.

"You have to be safe, you might lose each other," their mother said, nervously tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear. "Jack, about that picture,"

Jack held back a sigh.

"Yeah, mum?" he asked.

"With the brown hair, please? I want to send it to your father."

"Sure," Jack managed to say, with a tight smile. "As you wish, mum."

It was his way of saying ' _I love you_ '. She didn't know that; she had never watched _The Princess Bride._ But he had. And that was all that mattered.

Her request spun around in his head as the grate swam in front of him. His brown hair…

Jack had found out, through a revenge-prank of the other Slytherin boys, that he was a metamorphmagus. When his hair had been stuck a bright pink, he had, almost in tears, gone straight to Slughorn's office, who in turn led him to McGonagall's office. She was the one who had helped him control the rare gift.

Since then, he had kept his hair snowy white and his eyes almost grey; practically the complete opposite of his former self.

The person who was responsible for his magic was to blame. His father was a wizard and he had left as soon as Mary was conceived. Jack had placed the blame on him and, as the years continued with no sign of his father's return ("he said he'd return," his mother always insisted), the resentment grew. He had left them.

It didn't help that Jack, if he could not change his appearance, would be the spitting image of his father.

But if his mum wanted it…well…he couldn't say no to that.

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Merida Dunbroch stared through the window of the shop until her breath had fogged the glass so much she could no longer see what was inside. Only then did she take a half step away, her hands leaving fingerprints as though it was frosted glass.

Even though she had a fat, full bag of galleons in her pocket, she was unable to buy what she really, truly, genuinely wanted.

Because of her mother.

She was already tugging at Merida's arm to get going, yelling at Maudie (the live-in babysitter) to find her three brothers _"immediately_ ", but Merida couldn't pull herself away, not this time.

"Mam," she begged, hoping her mother's split attention would work to her advantage. " _Please_ can I get a broom?"

"What? Oh, no, Merida," her mother muttered, straining her neck over the crowd of witches and wizards.

"Oh, come on, El, let her have a broom," her father, who towered over everyone else, said.

"I've told her time and time again, _no_!" Elinor stressed.

"Aye, mam, but you've never told me _why_!" Merida whined. She let her voice break so that it looked as though she were about to cry; she knew her father couldn't resist that.

"Eleanor..." her father pleaded, turning to his wife. He too, turned on his puppy-dog eyes.

Eleanor looked between the two, considering them both with one eyebrow slightly raised.

"It's _un_ ladylike, Merida," she said, as though that settled the arguement.

"No, you said that _quidditch_ is 'unladylike' and I don't want it to play Quidditch - I just want to ride it, mam, so that you and Maudie don't have to take me everywhere. _This_ is the year I do my OWLs, mam - I'm practically a grown-up!" she pleaded. It was all of the reasons that she'd spouted off in her head on the way here, but they were all coming out wrong and she sounded childish.

"Merida, I-" Eleanor gave a large sigh, looking like she was finally going to repent, when her attention was captured by the blasted triplets. Merida loved her little brothers (they were a great distraction for sneaking out), but they had the worst possible timing!

Her mother was distracted and she would never be so vulnerable to saying yes again.

Next to her, her father sighed too.

But then he placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"Go in and buy it, Merry, catch up with us in Florish and Blotts."

Merida's heart soared. _Hope at last!_

Giving a hasty but heartfelt hug to her father, Merida disappeared into the shop like a shot.

"That one!" she practically yelled, the door not even fully closed behind here. "I want-" here, Merida remembered herself and cleared her throat. She tried again, with a smooth gesture to the Firebolt. "Could I have that one, please?"

The guy in the shop seemed completely bemused, but sold it to her. Her fingers were practically itching as she took it from him.

The polished handle under her fingertips, the twigs bristling as she pulled it closer - _it was practically begging to be ridden._

It was only when she was leaving the shop that the thought occurred to her. _She'd have to hide this from her mother._

 _How on earth was she going to hide this from her mother?!_

She froze involuntarily, her mind at a complete blank.

"Hey, Merry!" a voice suddenly called.

Her eyes darted around, for some reason thinking it would be her mother (even though she had never called her by her nickname), and eventually landing on a silver-haired boy. Jack Frost. Probably her closest friend at Hogwarts, even if he was a Slytherin.

"Jack," she smiled in relief as he started over to her, a younger girl trailing after him, whining to deaf ears.

Jack let out a low whistle when he saw the broom in her hand.

"That's a nice Firebolt," he commented, his finger running down the length of it.

Merida unconsciously pulled it back towards her, fearful her broom would take to someone else.

"Aye, I just brought it," she said, pretending to be disinterested. All of her senses were alert and terrified that Eleanor would spot her.

"Your mum finally got you a broom, then?" Jack continued to ask, his pale blue eyes twinkling as they looked the broom up and down.

"Ah, no," Merida felt her face warm. An idea suddenly came to her. "She doesn't know...would you mind holdin' onto it for me?"

Jack blinked at her.

Then he smirked.

"Just until term!" she added hastily.

"Look at the goody-two shoes Gryffindor going behind her mummy's back," he all but sang, immune to her death glares after four years. But then he held out his hand. "Sure, I can take care of it for you."

"We meet at King's Cross," she told him, with all the authority that a pureblood could muster. "And you return it to me straight away."

"Of course," he shrugged. "For a fee."

Her face reddened; it usually did around Jack - he was good at making her frustrated.

"How much?" she asked, dipping into her pocket.

"How about a sickle for each week?" Jack only had a small smirk as he asked it.

She didn't have a lot of choice. She handed over the coins, then stuck her tongue out and flipped the bird at him. But he wasn't paying attention, he had turned away to the pouting girl at his side.

"Let's go get you some robes." He said, tugging her away from the angry Scottish girl.

"Jack!" Merida yelled after him, sounding much too like her mother for her liking.

He didn't even turn, just gave her a lazy wave as he walked down Diagon Alley.

She was mad at him, but half of it was just jest. Most of it was jest with Jack, they'd tease and bully each other but stand up for the other in a flash. They were an unstoppable team of pranksters and spell-casters. They were unstoppable friends.

And Merida wouldn't change that for the world.

After all, he was the one who had lent her his broom and taught her how to fly. The one who would laugh when she fell off, but offer a hand up and a healing charm.

 _And now she had her own._

The thought could have been sad. That they wouldn't have those memories. But at the same time, it meant that Merida wouldn't be blackmailed into doing his homework for broom time. It meant that she could race him - they could play each other in a Quidditch match.

Because, of course she was going to play Quidditch. She _had_ to play Quidditch. It was a sport meant for her. Nothing could stop her now.

She'd be on the team, if it was the last thing she'd do.

And, filled with these thoughts, Merida started the walk to Florish and Blotts lesuirely.

This year was the year that everything would go right. The year of Merida.

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Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third wished that he was back at Hogwarts. There were many reasons for this. The first was because it was were he felt most at home - or rather, it was so far away from home that he could push it out of his mind and never think about it. He could claim his father's owls got lost in the mail and avoid the other kids from Berk. Perfect.

Which led to the second reason - his father, who was no doubt annoyed that his son - _his_ son - was put in Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor like everyone else's. It wasn't enough that Hiccup was too weak and powerless to hunt dragons - but he had to be smart instead of brave.

And the third reason - the other kids from Berk. Considering Hiccup had gone to all of their barbeques and bonfires and gatherings as a kid, and though he called them 'friends' (which was a stretch of the term) - he didn't fit in. He never had. They wanted nothing to do with him and when they did acknowledge him, it was only to tease him. Now if he had to suffer their company, he made sure he had plenty of reading material.

The fourth, and maybe least, reason, was that he hated his Summer job. He didn't mind his uncle Gobber, but working out at the garage was heavy, gruelling work that almost always resulted in oil staining his clothes. And not just any old oil - magical oil that wouldn't come out, or magical grease that would change places to trip him up - or magical tools that would butt him upside of the head.

He'd been helping out since he was small, mainly because he was the only one of the kids who could - and had the time to - do it.

On the bright side, he was an expert in machinery and had mastered reading with one hand whilst fixing an engine with the other.

If only he were so skilled with a wand.

"Ready to head to Diagon Alley in a bit, son?"

"Uh, yeah, Dad...in fact, I was wondering if, uh, we didn't meet up with everyone this time? It's just last time...well, I mean, I'm still banned from Florean Fortesque's and I'm _innocent_." Hiccup never felt he was good at talking to his dad, but eventually he always managed to say what he meant.

"Oh don't worry," Stoic replied cheerfully. "We've scrapped that plan-" Hiccup's heart leapt - finally - a year without - "We're going to stay up there a couple of nights before you go to school. Won't that be great?"

Hiccup's heart sank back down again. It didn't sound great. In fact, it sounded awful.

"Who am I sharing with?" he asked reluctantly.

"Snotlout," Stoic declared it so proudly. Of course he was happy - Snotlout was a Gryffindor and he did okay in his exams so was basically the perfect room mate for his failure of a son.

"Great," Hiccup said unenthusiastically, then he glanced at Gobber. "But I'm sure I have way too much work to do here."

Hiccup gestured to the motorcycle, practically repaired. It was what his father and the other adults used to hunt down dragons.

"Nah, I think I should get by okay," Gobber completely missed the hint, fiddling with his fake hand. It was enchanted to turn into whatever he wanted.

Hiccup's heart fell even further.

"It's settled then," Stoic said, clapping his son his the shoulder.(Hiccup could barely keep himself from falling over.) "You should get packed."

Hiccup nodded and tried not to look like he felt the world was at an end.

At least until his father left the room.

Then he hit Gobber's elbow. (He hardly felt it, of course.)

"How could you do that to me?" he asked, hating the way that his voice cracked as he did.

"Do what?" Gobber blinked at him, obviously completely oblivious.

"Well now I get the curses and the laughing and the repeating everything Hiccup says and the thousands of dragon tales that-" he stopped suddenly.

He was going to say 'that make me feel sick to my stomach', but couldn't tell that to anyone. Not even Gobber. Because he wanted to kill a dragon. To fit in. To be able to tell the same tale ten times because people ask for it.

But at the same time he really, really didn't want to kill a dragon. The thought made his stomach clench. _How could someone just_ kill _a creature like that? Something that flew so magnificently._

 _Wouldn't it be easier to ride one than enchanting everything else to catch them?_

"Cheer up, Hiccup," Gobber said now, his hand (now a wand) tapping Hiccup's shoulder (and emitting sparks). "I'm sure it'll be better than you think."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Hiccup gave a snort, slinking out of the garage like a kicked puppy. "That's what you said the last time and now Florean Fortesque thinks my butt erupts violently and infrequently."

He could hear Gobber in hysterics as he left the workshop.

Straight into the obnoxious laughter of Snotlout.

"That was a good one, Hiccup, you have to admit it," the dark-haired boy guffawed.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, hiding his book behind his back. (One too many nips from enchanted books.

"Yeah, it was great," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I _know_ ," Snotlout completely missed said sarcasm, following Hiccup as he headed down the street. Practically everyone in their little village had a kid who went to Hogwarts, and practically everyone hunted dragons.

And his dad, though a muggle, had managed to secure his place as the best of the bunch. Hiccup would be proud, if it didn't put so much pressure on him.

"What are you reading?" Snotlout asked suddenly, spotting the tome that Hiccup was unsuccessfully hiding. (To be fair, it could have made a deadly topper to a war hammer.)

"Oh, um," Hiccup didn't want to say that he'd been pouring over extra reading for _Care of Magical Creatures._ "Transfiguration homework."

"Oh, I'm dropping that," Snotlout waved it off. "I'm not even going to bother with my OWLs.

This didn't surprise Hiccup.

"Good luck with that," Hiccup said, managing to flash a smile. "I'm going to go back."

His smile dropped as he walked away. This would be the worst two days of his life.

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There was a knock at Elsa Aren-Delle's room. She made a sound in her throat to acknowledge that she heard it, her face taut with concentration.

"Do you wanna do my homework?" a sing-song voice came from the door.

"An-na," Elsa said through gritted teeth, flicking her wand ever so slightly upward. She had to be very careful...very careful...

The door burst open.

Elsa jumped, her wand flicking wildly.

The snowflake she had been balancing on the tip flew off into the replica castle she had been building. Painstackingly. Flake by flake.

"Oops," her little sister half giggled. "Cool castle though."

"You shouldn't yell about your homework so loudly," Elsa sighed the castle's ruins vanishing with a flick of her wand. "What if mother and father hear?"

"They're not gunna hear," Anna gave a small snort. "They're downstairs with Auntie and Uncle."

"Do you think they'll ever find her?" Elsa asked in a quiet voice.

Anna just shrugged, the mood suddenly sombre. She was born after her cousin went missing and Elsa could hardly remember herself. Their Aunt and Uncle were still devastated, holding out hope that she would show up someday.

"Homework?" Elsa prompted after the tense moment.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Anna stammered, handing her sister a heavy roll of parchment.

Elsa took it and as she took it she frowned. She raised a fair eyebrow at her sister as she untied the scroll. It fell almost to her feet.

"Anna...is this _all_ of your homework?" she asked increduously.

"Yeah, so?" Anna asked innocently.

"There's only a week left of Summer!" Elsa all but yelled. _How could Anna be so irresponsible?! So neglectful!_

It didn't help that Elsa was the one who had to rush it. She was the one who always had to rush it.

"You have plenty of time," Anna waved a hand in the air like it fixed everything.

"Did you even do mine?" Elsa asked.

"Of course," the ginger teen looked offended, then a guilty smile came onto her face. "...I started it."

"An _na_!" Elsa pushed back her fringe, the magic that always seemed to be sparking off of her freezing it there.

"Hans had an important Quidditch tryout," Anna pouted. "And then he had a BBQ... many BBQs - it's _Summer_ , Elsa! What did you want me to do; sit around like you all day?"

"We have a deal," Elsa hissed, standing up from her desk. "I trusted you, Annalise Aren-Delle. This is my last year and I have to do well."

Anna seemed to sober up a little. Elsa only used her made-up full name when she was really cross.

"I know," she said, but then she bumped her sister's shoulder lightly with her fist. "When have I ever let you down before?"

It was true. Elsa's OWLs had been some of the top marks in the year. And she was determined that her little sister show even her up.

After all, with Elsa finally doing subjects that she enjoyed, they were an unstoppable team.

Because Elsa was extremely powerful. And she hated it. She would take Ancient Runes over Charms any day. However, her sister Anna was the complete opposite. Anna loved using magic, loved learning about magic -

And was next to useless.

In fact, over the last couple of years they had started to worry that she was a squib. At fifteen Anna could barely transfigure a beetle into a button and that was first year's stuff.

They had struck 'The Deal' in Anna's second year, as she choose her options. Elsa had told Anna to take the subjects that didn't require spells - arithmancy and ancient runes and muggle studies - all subjects that Anna hated. But Elsa loved them, and she had been bullied into taking a more spell-based range of subjects. The easiest solution had just been to do each others homework. To study for each other and make it easier for the other.

So far, no one had caught on. Their writing was similar and they looked so alike that Elsa betted she could wear a ginger wig and everyone would call her Anna.

"But..." her sister rocked on her heels. "We still have to get our new books from Diagon Alley."

Elsa felt a smile at the edge of her mouth, however much the sensible older sibling in her told her not to give in.

"You're sure they're distracted?" she asked.

Anna nodded, her eyes glancing slowly around Elsa's room. They slowly fell back to Elsa's icy stare. There was a moment where the two girls looked at each other.

"Race you for it!" they both cried, pushing at each other as they darted out of Elsa's room. They bashed into each other as they half-ran, half-fell down the hallway, trying to keep their giggles and shrieks stifled.

Though it was unlikely that their parents heard a thing.

Being Pureblood, they lived in an old, large Manorhouse parked neatly away in the Country. If you stood at the door of the house, the gates were too far away to even magic open. The girls had claimed the attic rooms when they were younger, and that made it perfect to fly out on a broom at night to visit friends. (Well, Anna did. She found that Elsa was something of an introvert.)

They fell down a flight of stairs, breathless and clutching each other, half for support and half to hold each other up.

It ended up being a draw, the pair crawling to the huge fireplace, laughing feebly.

"You have to promise me," Elsa gasped, lying on her back on the thick, woven carpet. "To finish off my homework before we go back to Hogwarts."

Anna was quiet for a moment. Then her warm fingers found her sisters.

"Anything for you, Elsa," she whispered, squeezing the blonde girl's hand.

Because her sister was her best friend. And nothing would ever change that.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

If you've ever fallen asleep after crying a lot, you'll know that your body does not approve when you wake up. As in Rapunzel's case, her palms and scalp throbbed and her eyes itched.

But she quickly forgot about all this as the ice that covered her window shattered with a sickening crack and a molten red light.

There, floating outside her window, Pascal in pride of place on his shoulder, was Eugene Fitzherbert. Rapunzel's human best friend.

He was on his broomstick, hovering expertly with his wand hand pointed directly at her. His eyes were wide and his thick eyebrows almost disappearing into his hair.

"I know, I know," he shrugged after a moment. "My wrist movements are too harsh, it makes the spells uncontrollable."

Despite herself, Rapunzel gave a small chuckle.

"Ever so slightly," she echoed, surprised to find her voice mostly returned.

Eugene swung off of the broom and into her window in a smooth, heroic motion. His gaze was dark and concerned once more as he padded across the room towards her.

In her blind joy to see a friendly face, Rapunzel darted towards him, only to be cruelly yanked back by her hair. She tumbled to the floor, strands lacing themselves over her like a fish net.

"Blondie, what's going on?" Eugene had bent down to her height, his hands supporting her face so that she could look at him. His hands were warm, the pads rough from Summer work, but Rapunzel only dimly noticed this.

"Mother - " Rapunzel stopped, her tongue dry. The realisation started to kick in. "Not _my_ mother - but, well, oh - Eugene, she's not letting me go back to Hogwarts!"

"Wh-" Eugene started, but then he seemed to notice the hair trailing over the room - seemed to link up the iced window and locked door. Following his train of thought, Rapunzel choked back a sob.

"I can't undo the charm - she took my wand!" she told him, her hands had risen to brush her hair back _again_ , but they had settled on Eugene's.

Eugene's hands moved from her face, but they still gripped her hands comfortingly.

"Don't worry. I'll get you out of this." Eugene said.

He straightened up, pulling his wand out of his pocket. His eyes flicked over the hair that was strung across the room.

"I think the first order of business is to cut through all this, don't you think?" he asked, lining his wand up with the hair stuck in the door.

Rapunzel, due to said hair, was crouched over like a hunchback as she grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"No, Eugene - you know it'll loose it's-"

"I know," Eugene's voice had an edge to it as he said it. "Go brown when it's best blonde, lose it's power - and stop Mother Gothel using it like this. She won't have anything on you anymore."

"I can't let you-" Rapunzel stopped mid-sentence as she heard footsteps on the stairs. They were so familiar. Usually they brought comfort, but now they just brought dread.

Eugene had heard them too and had froze. Rapunzel's hair slipped through his fingers.

"Rapunzel," Mother Gothel's sickly sweet voice called. "I hope you haven't invited a friend over. You know how I feel about _friends._ "

 _That they always stabbed you in the back, sooner or later,_ Rapunzel thought grimly. Ironically, as she looked at Eugene, she realised the roles that had been drilled into her were completely reversed.

"Of course not," Rapunzel's voice wavered as she answered. She wasn't sure if she was still crying or genuinely scared. "How could I-"

"Don't lie to mumsy, dear," Mother Gothel's voice was just on the other side of the door. The care and concern in her voice hardened Rapunzel's resolve more than ever.

"You _aren't_ my _mother_!" she yelled spitefully before she could stop herself.

The next five seconds happened in fast-forward.

In the first, her mother spat "alohamora" at the door with such force that it all but burst off of it's hinges.

In the second, she caught sight of Eugene, who had taken a protective stance at Rapunzel's side, her face twisting grotesquely as she spat " _you!_ The _mudblood!_ "

In the third, Eugene's face had redenned in anger, but he had only gotten out "expell-" before Mother Gothel had slashed her wand a dozen times and yelled -

" _Sectumsemtra_!"

In the fourth, Eugene was flung across the room at the force of the spell, a hundred cuts starting to bloom crimson under his shirt.

In the fifth, Mother Gothel had grabbed hold of Rapunzel's arm and she had felt the beginning pulls of an evaporation and had screamed and tried to thrash away, panic flaring in her heart at the sight of Flynn injured.

But also in that fifth moment, barely audible over the struggle, Eugene had flicked his wand and cast " _diffendo_!"

A huge weight suddenly disappeared from Rapunzel's back. Mother Gothel's eyes widened and she realised Rapunzel's arm.

Thrown completely off balance, Rapunzel almost fell backwards over her desk, but caught herself just in time.

On the floor, she watched the mounds of hair - her hair - turning as brown as autumn's leaves. Suddenly, she comprehended the loss of weight.

One hand went to her hair and where her fingers found shorn hair, almost prickly, barely making it past the nape of her neck.

"What have you done?!" she gasped, turning to Eugene. For an instant, she had thought - _perhaps my hair can heal him_. But that thought was lying in a dusty heap on the floor with the rest of her precious, enchanted hair.

" _What have you_ done _?!"_ Mother Gothel echoed Rapunzel, turning on Eugene like a tigress.

Eugene was gasping on the floor, grinding his teeth against the pain. The cuts criss-crossed each other, cutting into his skin like a net of knives. Blood was pooling around him.

With just a look, Rapunzel's heart hardened.

"Something I should have done a long time ago," she said, surprising even herself at the coldness in her voice. This woman was not her mother. This woman was killing her best friend. This woman was her enemy. Power seemed to well in her throat. " _Expelliarmus._ "

She had never been able to master a non-verbal spell, let alone one without a wand. But somehow, Gothel's wand was flying out of her hand, along with Rapunzel's.

Rapunzel caught her own beloved wand with ease - elm and unicorn hair - and pointed it at Mother Gothel, who was glaring at them both with complete and utter outrage. Her hair was graying and wrinkles appeared as though being drawn by a child.

" _Stupefy._ " Rapunzel cast the spell with an odd detachment. Mother Gothel hit the floor, surrounded by mounds and mounds of Rapunzel's hair.

Surely she should be feeling guilty about this. But she couldn't bring herself to feel anything.

Until Eugene gasped from the floor.

Suddenly panic welled within Rapunzel once again and a chocked cry came out of her mouth as she rushed towards him.

"Eugene! _Eugene_!" she gasped, reaching his side. His face was pale, blood flowing from beneath his fingertips like a waterfall.

Every healing spell Rapunzel could think of left her lips in a matter of seconds. But it made no difference. It made no change. Eugene was still bleeding on the floor. Eugene was still dying.

"I'm sorry," he gasped, his eyes barely able to focus on her. His hand shakily touched her cheek once more and she gripped it like a lifeline. Held it there, as though she could squeeze life into him. "Rapunzel."

It was the first time he had ever said her name. Over the years, he had mockingly come up with every variation of her name, getting more and more obscure each time. The fact that he was using it now...

" _No - Eugene_ -" Rapunzel's voice broke, his name barely audible. Tears flowed freely from her eyes.

 _He was done. He was doomed._

Her face hit his chest. Perhaps, had she been in a better state of mind, she would have noticed that his chest was no longer sticky with blood.

As it happens, Rapunzel didn't even realise Eugene was alive until she felt his hand on her back.

The motion had made her jump. Her eyes opened, to meet Eugene's.

The golden light was starting to fade from his cuts and they both registered the facts at the same time, staring at each other with elated delight and confusion. _Rapunzel's hair might be gone, but her tears still had the same impossible healing power._

Eugene being Eugene, he didn't acknowledge it at all.

"I...take it back," Eugene gasped, his hand steadying on Rapunzel's cheek. "You look better as a brunette."

Rapunzel didn't have the words. She could barely think.

Maybe it was this that caused her to smash her lips onto Eugene's.

It was her first kiss. And she wasn't even sure if she was doing it properly - or well. All she cared about was the fact that Eugene was safe and _alive_ under her arms.

He kissed her back. Expertly. He had a way of sticking out his jaw that made Rapunzel melt as he pulled her closer to him.

The kiss lasted too long for a time of crisis. Or it was too short. Rapunzel couldn't decide. She just grinned at Eugene when he pulled away and allowed herself to be shepherded onto his broomstick. She clung onto his back and thought of all the times in the past year that she had thought about doing this. Of riding behind the Slytherin Seeker Eugene Fitzherbert - _Flynn Rider._

Because, in the course of the last hour, she had realized that he was more to her than a best friend.

She loved him.

* * *

 **(A/N):** **I actually had the plan for this quite a while ago and started writing four parts in one day. I didn't touch it because I wanted to finish more things off before hand, but I found that I really wanted to write this...so I did. I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but I had a lot of fun at least writing this first part. (The chapters might get really long...)**

 **I know there's a lot of dispute over where to place everyone in terms of Hogwarts Houses, but this is where I have put them and I'd be happy to explain myself if asked:**

 **(Seventh Years):**

 **Rapunzel : Hufflepuff**

 **Flynn/Eugene : Slytherin**

 **Elsa : Ravenclaw**

 **(Fifth Years)**

 **Merida : Gryffindor**

 **Jack : Slytherin**

 **Hiccup : Ravenclaw**

 **Anna : Gryffindor**

 **There was a reason for Jack's Little Sister's name...but I read quite a few different ideas and I can't remember the exact reasoning - I know it was from a wiki discussion.**

 **This work was also posted on my account, under the same name.**

 **Thank you for reading. I shall hopefully see you very soon! Please leave a comment with your thoughts! C:**


	2. Chapter 2 : Looking for Trouble

Chapter Two : [Looking for Trouble]

It was dusk by the time they reached The Leaky Cauldron, which was actually convenient as Eugene wouldn't have been able to land if there were still tons of muggles milling around outside.

Rapunzel shakily climbed off of the broom, her hand slipping into Eugene's as they walked into the pub. The events of the last three hours hadn't seemed real. She was sure that she had fallen asleep on the broom and dreamt the whole thing.

But no. Her hair was gone. A fact she was consantly reminded off as Flynn checked them in until the first of September - the day they would return to Hogwarts. She was so nervous that she kept going to fiddle with her hair, to start a plait that she didn't have time to finish, to tuck it behind her ear. It was still a start to feel the few inches of brown that were left. A huge weight seemed to be off of her shoulders - figuritively and metaphorically and she wasn't sure how to take it.

Suddenly, fingers were snapped under her nose and she blinked as she came out of her thoughts.

"Blondie," Flynn had called loudly, then he'd dropped his voice. "I was saying that I can only afford one room - that okay?"

"Oh, um, yes," Rapunzel managed to reply, her cheeks red.

On her shoulder, Pascal nudged her cheek and she scratched his head with her forefinger absently.

"Good," Flynn said. Maybe just to fill the silence. "Let's sit somewhere."

So Rapunzel followed him through the dim lighting, swerving past flailing arms and bustling people until Flynn found an empty table, pulling a chair out for her. He flopped into the opposite one, running his hands through his usually carefully crafted hair.

They sat in silence, looking around them at the interesting company. Listening to odd snatches of conversation.

After a time, Rapunzel's eyes turned back to Flynn Rider. His gaze was hollow and distant and his hand was resting on his chest, his fingers twitching slightly.

Half because she wanted the comfort, Rapunzel slipped her hand over his, stopping his fourth finger from rhythmically tapping on the table.

His fingers folded under hers and she thought she heard him sigh.

"It's been a long day," she murmured. "Should we just get some rest?"

Eugene's eyes slipped to hers. He took a deep breath.

"Sure, blondie," he said, then he seemed to look at her hair again. "Um, I mean...sure."

Rapunzel managed a weak smile.

It seemed an effort for Eugene to get up from the chair and they walked in silence up the rickety, narrow staircase. The only thing that remained constant was their linked hands.

The room was small. Just enough room for a bed, chest of drawers, bedside table and a dusty lamp.

Eugene took a pillow and insisted on sleeping on the floor, his travelling cape pulled over him. Rapunzel tried to protest, but was too tired to keep it up. She collapsed on the bed, her fingers finally slipping from Eugene's, and was asleep within an instant.

Morning light streamed through curtains they had forgotten to shut. Rapunzel stirred, fancying Eugene's arms to be around her, but not wanting to open her eyes and find herself disappointed.

Her thoughts wandered. It was basically this time last year that they had met. A few days into term with Rapunzel wandering through the halls, trying to find her class but feeling completely lost.

A boy had suddenly burst through a tapestry to her left. A boy with messy hair and a glint in his mischevious eyes. And a Slytherin tie.

Rapunzel had shrank back against the wall. The other Hufflepuff's had been honest - Slytherins weren't that bad, the only people who really hated them were Gryffindors; but stay on their good side because they hold a grudge.

He had still terrified her.

He had stared at her too. His eyes on her hair, which, though considerably shorter then, trailed down to her ankles easily.

"I think I lost them," he panted, as though she were his partner in crime. It gave her a thrill. She was going to get dragged into trouble. Into an adventure.

 _Like her tween novels!_

"Lost who?" Rapunzel had squeaked.

There were sudden shouts from behind the tapestry.

The boy heard too. He stiffened.

Then he had grabbed her wrist and pulled her along the corridor. Her hair tripped her up and fell in her eyes and her heart had pounded.

Without warning, the boy pulled her behind another tapestry, revealing a small cubby hole behind it. She had pulled her hair in after her like rope, smothering both of them.

Their hands were clasped over their mouths and they were breathing heavily in the darkness.

Footsteps had thundered past, with yells of "Ryder! You liar - you bloody cheat!" but disappeared down the hallway.

He had lifted the tapestry and the two stood in the hallway, half-giggling breathlessly.

"I'm Rapunzel," she had said, holding out her hand. The boy had blinked at it, then fixed a charming smile on his face.

"Ryder. Flynn Ryder," he had said, shaking her hand. "But you can call me Flynn."

And she had. Everytime she saw him she dropped what she was doing to talk to him. She hadn't realised how much of a nuisance she had been. But he never said anything. He treated her with somewhat amusement at first, seeing how long he could string her along for, but then he had started to like her. He treated her like a mate, didn't flirt with her like he did the other girls and they had started to beg her for tips on getting her attention.

That had never been her concern. All she had wanted was a friend.

And she still had one, even though they had kissed and she wasn't sure where their relationship would lead to now.

She hesitantly opened her eyes and her heart leapt when she saw that Flynn's arms were around her. The sheets were half-tangled around them and Rapunzel still had one leg resting on the mattress. She didn't know whether she had been pulled or just fell.

At her stirring, she felt Flynn's breath on her neck.

"Mornin'," he mumbled.

Rapunzel rolled to her back, feeling immensely lighter.

"I'm here," she whispered, mostly to herself. "I'm actually _here_."

Eugene groaned and sat up, rubbing an eye with the heel of his palm. He fixed his dark eyes on her.

"Let's just...just not get into the crazy mother, and the dying, and the kidnapping." He said. His morning voice was husky and deep.

"Kidnapping?" Rapunzel echoed, sitting up as well. It felt odd not have to worry about catching her hair. Her head felt so light. All of her felt so light. "I'm not a kid."

Eugene's only answer was the raise of an eyebrow.

"It was my birthday yesterday!" Rapunzel told him defiantly. Then she frowned. "Oh, it was my _birthday_ yesterday."

"You had other things on your mind," Eugene shrugged. Then he smirked. "Aw, you would have broken a law for me."

She frowned at him.

But then he placed a kiss on her forehead and she found herself smiling.

"C'mon," he said, standing up as slowly as an old man. "Let's get you a proper birthday celebration."

Rapunzel's 'birthday' celebration lasted the few days they had left before they returned to Hogwarts. It mainly featured ice cream, Eugene holding her hand as she read for hours and little kisses whenever no one was looking.

As the first of September came rolling around, Rapunzel found herself getting nervous. Eugene was popular at Hogwarts, and though she had friends, she was mostly ignored. What if he started ignoring her? Or wouldn't see her? Or called it off between them?

He was at her side when they passed through the barrier to King's Cross. But then a ginger-haired Slytherin called out to him and he dropped Rapunzel's fingers. It felt like cutting a string. A life-line.

She recognised the Slytherin from the Quidditch team - a chaser who's name escaped her. The only reason she had ever woken up in the freezing cold and sat in the stadium for hours was to support Eugene.

They ended up sitting in a compartment with the Slytherin. The two beaters Rapunzel recognised as well, the Stabbington Brothers who shared half a brain between them. They had always seemed to have beef with Eugene, though it was waved off so many times Rapunzel never could keep track. In truth, the three of them made her feel uncomfortable. But she stayed because every so often Eugene's eyes would catch hers and his smile would change ever so slightly to be reassuring.

As the train was leaving the station, however, there was a knock at the compartment glass. Rapunzel's heart leapt as she saw two girls looking in at them, one grinning wildly and the other looking nervous.

"Elsa," she waved as the compartment door was opened. "Come sit with me."

"Elsa, it'll be fine," Anna's owl was rocking precariously on top of her luggage as she bounded down the station.

Elsa followed as quickly as she could, pushing her own trolley. She wished she was her barn owl, and could look in every direction for trouble.

"I really...Anna, he's in _my_ year," she said.

"So?" Anna turned, her trolley resting on the step up to the train. "I hang out with you enough, don't I?"

Elsa opened and closed her mouth in an attempt to think of something to say.

Anna disappeared onto the train and she desperately followed. Because she knew what kind of a guy Hans was - heard the way he talked about women - and had to protect her baby sister from him.

When Anna had first started going to Quidditch matches, Elsa had assumed it had been to support her. After all, they were both chasers on their respective house teams; and Elsa always cheered Anna on as hard as she could.

It turns out, Anna had a crush on Hans. And he had strung her along like a duckling. A gullible little duckling. He made a fuss of her in front of his friends and made her feel special and ocassionally threw a rose her way to keep her keen.

And Anna was falling for it.

She was deaf to Elsa's protests, checking in every compartment until she found the one with him in. She tapped on the glass and started waving and at that point Elsa stopped trying. _Maybe she could back away...maybe they wouldn't have seen her._

"Elsa," a voice called. A cheeful voice. A voice unaware of the damage it just caused. "Come sit with me."

Elsa turned, and for a moment didn't recognise the girl calling to her. She had Rapunzel's glittering green eyes, rosy cheeks and bow shaped lips, but her _hair_.

Rapunzel's hair had made Elsa's white-blonde colour seem normal. Her blonde hair had been long in their first year, and before the summer it must have been twice her height.

But now it was shorn, barely reaching her ears and curling like wet paper at the ends. It had turned a chestnut colour, like autumn leaves.

It suited her. Startingly so. Elsa found her cheeks warming more than usual when she looked at her.

Unfortunately, Hans was looking between them both.

"Oh no, I don't think so," he drawled. "We don't need someone with the magical control of a first year to sit with _us_."

"She's on the Quidditch team as well," Rapunzel murmured, frowning slightly.

"She _was_ ," Hans said. There was a nasty glint in his eyes - Elsa wondered how she was the only one who could see it. "But we'll have to hold new trials this year, what with a new captain and all. Who knows if Elsa will still get in."

Something told Elsa that no matter who was the captain of Ravenclaw, Hans had made sure she didn't have a chance of getting in.

"Oh yeah," the other boy in the compartment - Flynn Rider, suddenly spoke up. "You're the captain of Slytherin, aren't you?"

Hans only have a smug nod in return.

"Don't be silly, Hans," Anna finally spoke up, that simpering puppy-love grin appearing on her face. "She's my sister - she's as good a flier as I am."

"And who lost to Slytherin last year?" Hans asked her sarcastically, earning a chuckle from the Stabbington Brothers.

"I-I let you win," Anna pouted, and Hans' expression seeemd to soften. He held out a hand to Anna, who's expression immediately changed to one of ecstasy. She giggled like a fool as she was pulled into his lap.

Elsa was left dithering in the passage, now with two lots of luggage.

Rapunzel was still smiling at Elsa, though now she seemed unsure.

Flynn Rider also caught her eye, and he gestured with his head for her to move on. But his eyes were more concerned than spiteful.

Despite his warning, she waited just a moment too long.

"Elsa," Hans said. His tone was still warm, but there was an underlying nastiness under his words. "No offence, but - we don't want any sudden snow-storms."

She felt her face redden at the memory of her fourth year charms class being asailed with snow when she had started to panic about the complexity of a spell.

"Yeah, I'm not really in the mood for hail," one of the Stabbington Brothers - Elsa could never tell them apart - grunted. His brother laughed, even though it wasn't that funny.

Elsa had pushed _that_ disasterous Quidditch match from her mind, but now it swam in front of her like a dementor. Her fingers felt cold and she clenched her fists in an attempt to stop it.

"It wasn't her fault, Hans," Anna said, her voice was still lighthearted - taking it all to be teasing. Anna never was very good at reading a room, especially when her long time crush had his hands on her waist.

"I just wonder how she got top marks last year but is a complete disaster when stressed," Hans shrugged, turning the 'nice-guy' tone back on like clockwork when he looked at Anna. "We must have sat the coldest OWL exams ever."

"I don't think so," Rapunzel suddenly spoke up. Then she saw the way the boys - even Flynn - were looking at her and her mouth snapped shut.

Elsa's stomach had dropped. A familiar cold was creeping up her wrists - cold of rejection and humiliation and shame.

She could see frost starting to snake up the doors of the compartment - which filled her with even more dread. She knew Hans' sharp eyes would spot it too.

She closed her eyes - wishing it all to stop.

"Would you two bring Anna's luggage it for her?" Hans' voice cut through Elsa's fear.

The Stabbington Brother's had stood, each lumbering towards Anna's cases, effectively blocking the door from Elsa. The meaning couldn't have been clearer.

"I'll uh, see you later, Anna," she called meekly, unable even to see her sister.

As she headed down the hallway, she heard an indistinct voice and men's laughter.

The bar of her trolley was suddenly covered in ice.

As soon as she saw an empty compartment, she dived in and pulled her glove on. She forced herself to take calming breaths. To calm down.

 _A complete disaster._

She had to repress all of the memories at threatened to swallow her, otherwise...

 _Complete disaster..._

 _... ... disaster._

 _She was a disaster._

The compartment door suddenly opened and she jumped out of her skin. For a moment she hoped it was Anna - come to sit with her after all. Or even Rapunzel.

But it wasn't. It was a girl in her year, looking at her with just as much shock. Elsa recognised her - a prefect with grades almost as good as hers - Toothiana.

Unlike Elsa, she was popular _despite_ her oddities. Despite reading the Quibbler, and 'talking' to fairies, and seeing creatures pulling the carriages to Hogwarts. Maybe it was her hair - dark with blonde highlights that shone green and blue when light hit them. Maybe it was the way her violet eyes glittered like stars. Or maybe it was her warm laugh and easy going demeanor.

She was everything that Elsa wanted to be.

"Oh, Elsa," Toothiana said now. "I thought this was an empty carriage. I was just looking for somewhere to sit before the Head of House meeting."

"You're," Elsa was finding it hard to breathe, much less talk. "...Headgirl, then?"

"Yes," Toothiana smiled, showing her perfect, dazzling white teeth.

Elsa had to look away. It was near impossible to swallow.

Toothiana sat across from Elsa, streching her legs out - seemingly effortlessly tanned. She was already wearing her uniform.

"It's cold in here," Toothiana commented after a moment.

"Sorry," Elsa said automatically, her face beetroot red as Toothiana gave a tinkling laugh.

"It's not your fault."

The words made Elsa pause.

 _Was it? Not her fault?_

She thought it was - in this case she _knew_ it was her uncontrollable feelings that had made it so cold in here.

But having strong magic wasn't her fault...was it?

She wished she was Anna. Then she could fit in. Be normal. Just like everyone else.

"Elsa-" Toothiana continued. "I wanted to try out for the Quidditch team this year-" understandable, she flew _everywhere_. "-But I'm too scared to go alone. Try out with me?"

"Me?" Elsa stammered. They weren't friends, they hardly spoke to each other and yet - Toohiana wanted _Elsa_ to try out with _her_. "Sure."

She had said it before her stomach dropped. Hans' words came rushing back to her.

 _Who knows if Elsa will be able to get in?_

Jack had felt bad to ask so much money off of Merry.

But he quickly forgot his guilt when he saw his little sister with brand new robes standing by her trunk. She'd fit in. She'd be fine.

"I'm still so shocked you managed to find these - they look like they've never been worn," their mother gushed, her cheeks pink.

"Yeah, it was a bargain," Jack winked at Mary, who giggled conspiritorally.

The two smiled at the camera; that awkward sibling smile when Jack had to stand with his hand on her shoulder and she had to not punch him.

"Okay, that's done, can we go?" Mary begged impatiently as soon as the flash went off.

"I want to take another one in case - oh, Jack!" their mother looked with despair as Jack's hair turned snowy white once again.

"We're going to be late," he said in his defence, pausing to noogie Mary before grabbing the floo powder.

They travelled to King's Cross, their mother forgetting her anger when she realised she wouldn't see them until Christmas, at least.

Jack, however, just felt jumpy. Like someone was going to jump out and laugh at him for believing the Head Boy badge. He had slipped it into his pocket when his mother's back was turned, but it seemed to be ten times heavier than it should be.

He jumped straight out of his skin when someone all but jumped on his back, yelling practically incoherently. In fact, he yelped. Like a dog.

Then, whilst his sister was laughing at him, he tuned into Merry's Scottish accent and forced himself to relax.

"Yeah, I've got your bloomin' broom," he muttered, shrugging it off his shoulders.

Merry practically snatched it from his hands, eyes wide.

"Where's your mum, then?" he asked.

"Ah, I said I'd be fine on my own this year," Merry shrugged, carefully placing the broom on the top of the already heavily laden trolley and starting forward to the wall.

Jack resigned himself to following, his little sister giggling in his ear and Merry chatting a mile a minute in his ear.

"If that's all..." Jack said slowly, one hand on Mary's shoulder to steer her away.

"Actually, Jack, I was thinkin'," Merry said from behind him. He surpressed a sigh and turned back. "Could you sit with me?"

Jack nodded. He knew it better than to make a big deal of it. Merry was friends with everyone in the class, sure, but Merry wasn't really _close_ to anyone. At Christmas it was always family time; Jack just assumed that was first priority.

But maybe Merry was just awkward - weird for a pureblood - but the 'flying ban' was even weirder.

"Right, Mary," Jack said, ruffling his little sister's hair just to annoy her. "The best way to make friends is to go into a random carriage and say all the others are taken."

"I know. I'm not the one who has trouble making friends." Mary stuck her tongue out at Jack, before she headed down the platform, her trolley clattering in front of her.

It was true. Jack was on good terms with everyone but he didn't really have any _friends_.

Except Merry. He guessed.

They found a compartment on the train and locked the door to stop first years coming in. Then Jack relaxed and leant back. Merry was starting at the broom like it was the Holy Grail.

There was a comfortable silence as the train pulled out of the station and started chugging along.

Jack pulled a weather beaten pack of cards from his bag and the played blackjack for a bit - but Merry was awful at Muggle card games and got bored quickly.

There was a sudden crash at the window.

They both jumped. A boy's face was pushed against the glass. He hurriedly started to tug at the door handle.

"What the heck?" Merry asked. Half with awe, and half with disgust.

Jack sighed.

"That's Hiccup," he said. Their parents knew each other and as such, they always had that 'my mum buys you birthday presents, but we don't talk' relationship that was just plain awkward. It was better to pretend that they didn't know each other at all.

But Hiccup was mouthing the words 'please', and had such a genuine look of terror on his face that Jack decided to abandon the rule. He got up and lazilly unlocked the door of the compartment.

Hiccup rushed in like a rabid dog was at his heels and collapsed on one of the seats, his hand over his chest.

"Thank you," he gasped. His hand was over his chest.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" Merry asked as Jack locked the door back up. And not a moment to soon. It took everything he had not to leap back as three more faces pushed up against the glass. He couldn't tell if they had been cursed or not.

"Them," Hiccup replied. He was viewing them with an expression of distaste - like he had just swallowed a ball of wasabi. Merida was watching with a disgusted fascination - like watching a snake swallow prey on a nature documentary.

Jack recognised the three Gryffindors.

"Merry, meet your future team mates," he said. "Gryffindor's beaters, and chaser."

Merida made a face and muttered "yeah, I know who they are," then stood suddenly and swung the compartment door open with such a force that the three recoiled.

"Get out of my face before I hex you into next week!" Merry snapped, then slammed the door closed again.

The three outside the door - Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout - looked at each other with wide eyes, before they went scuttling back down the corridor.

Merida sat back down and crosed a leg over the other, muttering indistinctly.

Hiccup looked terrified, but Jack was used to it. Merry's hair matched the temper.

There was a tense silence. Then Merry stood suddenly.

"I'm going to get go changed. Don't touch my broom."

Jack turned to Hiccup with a small smirk.

"So, what was all that about?"

Merida stared at herself in the small mirror in the train bathroom. It was spotted with age and made her seem even paler. She took a deep breath, conscious of how odd the skirt felt around her legs. How tight the long socks seemed.

Her mother had insisted on a skirt this year. Now that Merida was fifteen and was becoming a young woman. She had wanted to protest. But then she remembered the contraband broom and agreed reluctantly. It was just an item of clothing. Loads of other girls wore it.

She immediately regretted the decision when she opened the train door and saw Astrid Hofferson standing there. The _seeker_ for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"H-Hi," she said. She always found it hard to talk to Astrid. She was just - always so cool.

"You done?" Astrid asked. She seemed so indifferent.

"Yeah, s-sorry," Merida prayed the train wouldn't rattle so much as she squeezed past.

She had almost taken two steps before she turned again. Astrid was just sliding the door closed.

"Hey, um, are you wearing a skirt this year, for school?" she asked.

Astrid looked at her like she was crazy.

"Of course."

With that, she shut the door to the bathroom. Merida paused. It was the most they had ever spoke and she felt almost blessed. Though it hadn't seemed like Astrid really cared very much.

Merida started down the train. _Maybe when she joined the Quidditch team..._

 _Maybe then..._

Merida kept thinking about their conversation as she headed down the train. _What if she had said this instead of that? What would Astrid have said_ _then_ _?_

Because Merida was despereate to be friends with Astrid. To have a best friend. A best friend who was a girl with the same interests as her...

 _This year. She would make it happen._

Merida opened the door to their compartment with this resolve -

\- And was met with hysterical laughter from Jack.

"W-What?!" she yelped. Her face felt like it was on fire. "I know it looks bad - but it's not _that_ bad!"

"No, no, it looks -" Jack coughed as he tried to control his laughter. He looked at Merida for a moment, his eyes welling before he burst out laughing again.

"I think you look nice," Hiccup said politely. He was sat in a small huddle by the window, a book on his lap. He kept looking at Jack nervously.

"Sure - you've got the legs for it -" Jack said through fits of laughter. "But _why_ are you wearing a skirt, Merry?"

"My - my mam wanted me to, okay?" she replied, self-consciously tugging at the hem of the skirt.

"I guess your mum really wants a girl, huh?" Jack said, still sniggering.

He stopped as an awkward silence fell over the carriage. He looked from Merida to Hiccup.

"What?" he asked.

Merida couldn't reply. She was so stunned. Eventually, Hiccup cleared his throat.

"Um, Jack? Merida is a girl." He said.

"M - Merry - Merida?" he stammered. Suddenly his eyes were as wide as saucepans, as though he were seeing her in a whole new light.

"Yeah," Merida snappped, her cheeks still aflame.

There was another awkward moment - then red suddenly flashed across Jack's cheeks.

Merida plopped into a seat and crossed a leg over the chair.

Jack was sat in a shcoked silence, staring off into space. Hiccup was trying, and for the most part, failing, to control a flurry of giggles.

"Hiccup," Merida said measuredly, pointedly not looking at Jack.

"Yes?" he seemed almost nervous.

"Can I see your charms homework?"

"Sure."

He dutifully fetched it from his bag. They hadn't really spoken before now. But they had been in the same class for the last five years and Merida knew he was good at the subject. It wasn't Merida's strong point, and she was worried her essay didn't make sense.

She had been staring at Hiccup's essay for a good minute before Jack spoke again.

"Merry's a...girl...?" he said, as though it amazed him.

"Yes, Jack," she snapped.

"How did you _not_ know?" Hiccup asked, unable to stop himself smiling.

"Well - Merry's a guy in Lord of the Rings - right?" Jack stammered.

Hiccup just laughed again.

"Drop it." Merida said. "It doesn't matter."

Hiccup looked like he was going to object but saw the look on Merida's face and fell silent.

She wasn't quite sure what she was feeling. She was embarrassed of course, and thought Jack was a complete idiot. She wanted to laugh it off, but she was kind of offended. They were meant to be close - Jack was the only person she felt close to - but now it felt like he didn't _know_ her at all. She was kind of angry that he had been so blind. And she was scared that he suddenly wouldn't want to hang out with her anymore.

She hoped that Jack would come up with another joke, that she could find a witty remark to say, but instead the air in the carriage become awkward. And the awkwardness just sat in the air, like a hot day.

Eventually, when it felt suffocating, Jack and Hiccup left to go and get changed. This was not the start of the year that she had been hoping for.

She sat for a moment - the countryside was turning blue and purple in the dusk.

Merida picked up her broom and left the carriage. She wanted to be alone.

Hiccup had managed to evade Jack's questions. He had made up an off-hand lie about what had happened and then none too suddenly changed the subject. And it had worked. Jack may have gotten decent marks in class, but he was hardly observant when it came to people.

Or maybe he chose not to be.

Either way, the drama with Merida had definitely set a rift between them. A gaping chasm.

Jack was thoughtful when they returned to the empty carriage. He didn't seem surprised that Merida had left.

"God," he muttered under his breath. "The conversations we've had..."

"Do I want to know?" Hiccup asked to deaf ears.

"Y'know, it actually kind of makes sense." He continued. He sat back down, so Hiccup did too. It was silent in the carriage. Jack was staring out of the window, his brows still drawn together. He was fiddling with something in the pocket of his robes.

Hiccup just started reading again, and the time seemed to pass at a snail's pace, but eventually the train rolled into Hogsmeade station.

It was full of other people, pressing against each other as they milled lazilly towards the carriages.

"Merry!" Jack called over the crowd. Hiccup saw a flash of unruly red hair, but Merida disappeared into the crowd without a reply. Hiccup spotted Astrid's blonde hair neaby. For just a moment, she turned to him - and he felt his heart stop as she was bundled into a horseless carriage.

It started moving just as her blue eyes flickered away from him.

He was okay now. He was safe. He could avoid Snotlout and the others - there were secret passages. As long as he kept his head down, he could get through this.

The sorting ceremony was uneventful. There was a distinct whispering coming from the older Hufflepuff's, but they pulled themselves together to cheer when a little girl - Hiccup recognised her as Jack's sister - was sorted into their house.

McGonagall made a speech. There was a new Defence Against Dark Arts teacher. They ate. They went to bed.

 _Just let year go okay,_ Hiccup thought to himself as he lay in the boy's dormitory. _Just let everything be normal._

A day later, Hiccup knew the year wasn't going to be normal. It had started of fine - he had gotten his new timetable and he only shared charms with the Gryffindor's - and there was so much chaos trying to configure toads into todstools that he went by unnoticed.

But then he had gone to Hagrid's hut. He had been a regular visitor since his third year - since he had realised that _this_ \- Care of Magical Creatures - was what he wanted to do. He was good with the creatures - they semeed to naturally like him. They were a lot easier to make friends with than people.

(His dad, of course, didn't know about this secret passion, of course.)

Anyway, since then, he and Hagrid had grown close. If he managed to stay late enough, and not have an early start the next day, Hagrid would even take him into the Forbidden Forest. He had caught glimpses of centaurs and even a unicorn. It was amazing.

Today though, Hagrid was fidgety and pale beneath his bushy beard and eyebrows.

"There's been, uh, trouble 'ere over the summer," he said, as Hiccup sat at the huge table with a rockcake in front of him. He liked Hagrid's house - it made him feel like a child again.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked. He sipped tea from a huge flagon.

"Well - I might have taken - a short holiday-" Hagrid shuffled uncomfortably as Hiccup raised an eyebrow. " - Well - I thought 'e'd like it 'ere - but 'e doesn't - or maybe 'e don't like me - but now 'e's terrorising the whole forest!"

"Wait," Hiccup heled up a hand to stop Hagrid's panicked snowballing. "Who's 'he'?"Hagrid hesitated - and in that moment Hiccup heard it in the distance - a roar.

"Is that a-" he stopped short. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Dragon." Hagrid managed to finish, though he didn't have the grace to look ashamed of himself.

Hiccup was stunned. He had only been allowed to go dragon hunting a few times, and then he had to stay in the background with Gobber and not get hurt. Whilst everyone showed off - fighting and slaying dragons - he had been stuck like a child in the hut. That was how you got honour in their community, so, needless to say that he had none.

Hgrid took his silence as a judgement and continued.

"There was a bunch o' them ruddy dragon hunters after it - and I just - I couldn't stand by and let 'em kill 'im."

Everything snapped into place so nearly that Hiccup almost fell over. He knew that dragon. And he knew who was after it.

His father had come home complaining that they had been close - so close - to catching 'a beauty' of a dragon.

But it had alluded them.

Evidently, it hadn't escaped from Hagrid's well-meaning grasp.

"I can't believe-" _It. You._ Hiccup stopped short, Hagrid's defences seemed to fade into the background.

 _The dragon that not even his dad could catch was at_ Hogwarts _. And only he knew. If he could capture it-_

 _If he could bring it back-_ _Or even just a piece - to prove that he had._

The possibilities flooded into his head. He'd just be like everybody else - he'd be able to show off. He'd fit in - his dad would accept him.

He didn't even have to kill it. He could bring a small piece back.

As long as Hagrid didn't know he would be fine.

 _The year was not going to be normal. But it was going to be excellent._

* * *

 **(A/N): To be honest I completely forgot this fic. I had the documents seperate and in a different folder so I just...didn't notice it? But I really want to write it and I'm excited about it! I didn't even realise I hadn't posted the second chapter...^^"" So here it is, and things are picking up.**  
 **I hope to see you all soon!**  
 **P.S What are you thinking of the new Tangled series?**


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